Facel Vega 1961-1964: The Glory and the Power
The European tradition of the big grand touring coupe is one of my favorite car categories. Although I could never afford such a car, I like to pretend that my BMW 4 Series coupe is a modern-day equivalent (abet smaller and lower cost). The segment has seen better days since it’s rise in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Today’s marketplace fetishizes big trucks and SUVs, even in the highest price segments. Like newspapers, people don’t bother with expensive 2 +2s like they once did. Bigger SUV or more purpose-built sports cars are squeezing the big GT coupe out of favor. It was not always like that as big expensive coups were so popular amongst the super-rich, that there was a healthy custom coach builder industry racing to see who could develop the most exclusive car that money and fame could offer.
For a time during the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, no make was more exclusive than the famed coupes of the French car builder Farcel. The company only churned out a few coach built cars a year for the most elite members of society. Despite the presumably high cost and higher profit margins of catering to the ultra-rich, Farcel would eventually face bankruptcy (as many small European coachbuilders did). Unfortunately, it’s last-ditch effort at staying afloat, the Farcel Vega II could not stave off the enviable.
It was not for trying. The Vega II was a big beautiful car created by a wealthy playboy industrialist Jean Daninos. His company’s hand built custom cars like the Excellence sedan took the jet age by storm. Like a small string of earlier Facel, the Vega’s II body and custom interiors represented the finest of European craftmanship – with parts from France, England and America. While the body and interior were exotic in design and execution, under the bonnet were good olde Chrysler V8 engines.
The 6.3 liter Typhoon V8 was a carryover from the previous Farcel HK500. In the Vega II, it made up to 365hp. Later a Chrysler 6.7 liter “RB” wedge V8 would be used. The engines were paired to a three-speed automatic Torqueflite transmission, just like the Chrysler products they were originally intended for. A four-speed manual gearbox from Pont-a-Montsson was also available for the ultimate in Vega II performance. When paired with the largest engine and manual transmission, a Vega II could move its 4000+ lbs. to 60mph in just 7.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of 133 mph – supercar numbers in 1961.
The American muscle powering the Vega made it far more reliable than the typical European V8 engine (or almost any European engine of the time for that matter). The chassis was all Facel, with a steel tube frame and nearly seamless steel body panels. As a GT car particular attention was paid to ride comfort and roadholding. At first the suspension sounded typical of many European sports cars: coil springs up front and a semi-elliptic leaf spring set up in the rear on a De Dion axle in the rear. Comfort tuning was available on some cars (mostly right-hand drive English bound) via controls on the dash. Speaking of the dash, it was made of metal, but painted to look convincingly like wood. Actual wood veneer with chrome trim were on other areas of the lush interior. Even the rear bucket seats had their own thigh support.
With loads of torque and power on demand, the Vega could best lighter Ferraris and Aston Martins in a straight line while nearly matching their nimbleness around the curves. Passing peasants in Jaguar XKEs was as easy as operating its power windows or air conditioner. Chalk it up to French ingenuity and good olde American grit to make this kind of fast elegance. This sort of combo was becoming the norm for smaller European coachbuilders who relied on the simplicity and sheer might of American V8s for motivation. The relatively low cost of American powerplants did not translate to lower prices for buyers of course. It was just the contrary as a typical Facel Vega II sold for almost $13,000 when new in 1964 making it one of the most expensive cars of its day. In today’s dollars that would be over $120,000. For price context in 1964 my favorite cars of the era, the Ferrari 250 GT Lusso cost about the same while a Mustang was less than $2,500.
Outside the low wide profile was in keeping with trends of the day – as were the thin chrome pillars and curved edges of the windshield. Perhaps the most tell tale sign of the Vega II relation to it’s late ‘50s development were the small wings in the back. From the side they are not noticeable as they make a squared off silhouette (more like a proper ‘60s era design). The low wide stance gave the Vega II more than a passing resemblance to the villainous car in the 1977 film The Car. In that film a customized Lincoln Continental Mark III is made to look menacing and imposing in much the way the Vega II must have appeared to anyone seeing it in their rear-view mirror. The stacked headlights was a popular design element in America with cars like the Ford Galaxie, Pontiac GTO and various Chryslers all using them.
The combination exclusivity, style and virtue made the Vega extremely popular with the emerging jet set crowd. Before long photographs of stars like Frank Sinatra or Grace Kelly stepping out of Facel Vegas made them as popular (in the public imagination) as Lamborghini are today. Only 180 were built, but the reputation of elegance and excess made it a short-lived legend. Facel was overwhelmed with warranty claims from the troublesome engine in the Facellia F2B coupe and was forced into bankruptcy. Meanwhile the company had been planning the Vega II’s successor the P172, but did not get it beyond the prototype stage before the end came in 1965.
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